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Twins struggling to score runs in ALCS Posted: Sunday October 13, 2002 12:13 AMUpdated: Sunday October 13, 2002 12:33 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Baseball owners and their contraction plan nearly prevented Minnesota from starting its season, and now the Twins' lack of offense is threatening to end it. Wasting a second straight outstanding performance by their starting pitcher, the Twins again struggled at the plate in a 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Angels in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series Saturday. "We haven't done anything offensively," first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. "We haven't had any opportunities. It's hard to get a clutch hit when there's two outs and nobody on." Trailing 3-1 in the series, Minnesota has scored only seven runs -- and just two in two games in Anaheim. Eric Milton gave up one run in six innings of the Angels' 2-1 win in Game 3 on Friday night, and Brad Radke dominated until allowing two runs in the seventh Saturday. Radke -- who needed only 57 pitches to get through six innings -- is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in three postseason starts, including two wins over Oakland in the division series. But he didn't get any help at all this time. "I feel bad for Brad Radke," All-Star slugger Torii Hunter said. "He went out there and pitched his butt off." Leadoff hitter Jacque Jones, who went 0-for-4, has one hit in his last 23 at-bats. No. 3 hitter Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and he whiffed in seven of eight plate appearances before a ninth-inning double. A.J. Pierzynski, one of two .300 hitters the Twins had this year, went 0-for-3. Hunter didn't get a ball out of the infield. Manager Ron Gardenhire spoke about sticking with the lineup that got the Twins to the ALCS, but it doesn't seem to be working right now. "We're just having a tough time swinging the bats right now," Gardenhire said. "That's our lineup. What you see is what you get. I stand behind those guys -- I always will, I always have." They haven't hit any home runs in this series, and they're batting just .209 (27-for-129) in the four games. The young Twins hit .272 during the regular season, fifth in the AL, but they ranked ninth in runs scored. They've got a well-balanced lineup, but there aren't any big-time batters around like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek were in 1987 and 1991 -- the two times Minnesota won the World Series. "We had stretches like this during the season, too, but it just gets overemphasized now that we're in the ALCS," Koskie said. "You don't want this to happen, but it does." Part of the problem, clearly, has been quality pitching -- something any team is going to face in the playoffs. Anaheim ace Jarrod Washburn shut the Twins down on Friday, but it was a rookie making just the 19th start of his career who made them look helpless at the plate Saturday. The Twins hit three balls hard -- two of them hits -- off John Lackey in the third but didn't get anyone past first base. Dustan Mohr led off with a single, but he was forced on a grounder by Pierzynski -- who was caught trying to steal. Luis Rivas singled to left, but Jones smashed a line drive right at first baseman Scott Spiezio. The Twins had to savor Rivas' single, because they went 12 more batters without a hit against Lackey until a single by David Ortiz with two outs in the seventh. Trailing 2-0 after Anaheim finally scored against Radke, the Twins caught a break when Mientkiewicz's blooper fell in for a double leading off the eighth against reliever Francisco Rodriguez. But Mohr struck out on a pitch way outside the strike zone. Trying someone new didn't help, either. With two outs, pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty took Rodriguez to a 3-1 count but struck out swinging to end the inning. Minnesota broke a 10-inning scoreless drought in the ninth when Koskie doubled and scored on a single by Ortiz. The Twins hope those hits provide momentum that can be carried over to Game 5.
"Hopefully, we learned something in the ninth inning," Mientkiewicz said. "It's a must-win now. Here it is, let's see what happens."
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